SEAN Dyche believes Jay Rodriguez’s path from Burnley’s academy to the Premier League can act as an inspiration for the youngsters currently trying to make the same journey.

Rodriguez is the last player to come through the ranks at Turf Moor and establish himself as a first team regular, making his debut for the club in 2007.

Today the 27-year-old returns to his boyhood club as a player for the first time since his departure for Southampton in the summer of 2012.

The England international has twice faced Burnley at St Mary’s, but injury kept him out of the Saints two clashes with the Clarets in the 2014/15 Premier League campaign.

Dyche believes Burnley-born Rodriguez’s stellar career since coming through the academy can prove to be a good example for the youngsters currently in situ at Gawthorpe.

“I think it’s something that’s mentioned to the youth here,” Dyche said.

“I don’t think he’s ever that far away from Burnley fans’ thoughts. Most kids around Burnley will have heard of Jay Rod and what he did here. It just helps.

“He’s certainly someone who is respected here for what he has done for the team and his journey through the club. I don’t know him very well but I’m told he’s a fantastic lad as well.”

While some youngsters have made the leap from academy to first team since Rodriguez, the latest being Aiden O’Neill’s appearances this season, none have gone on to establish themselves as first team regulars.

That is something Dyche hopes will begin to change with the facilities upgraded as part of the £10.6million Gawthorpe redevelopment, which the club hope will see their Elite Player Performance Plan category upgraded from three to two when the audit takes place this year.

“There’s big changes going on in the academy here so hopefully, over the years, that will encourage more coming out of the academy,” said Dyche.

“There’s still no guarantee, but that’s the idea. With the new facilities it will enhance that.”

Dyche said the youth system has been forced to play catch up in recent years following the first team’s remarkable progress under his watch.

The Clarets are now seeking to establish themselves as a Premier League club, but their academy remains at Category Three level, which as well as making it tougher to attract young players also means the youth team and development squad play in lower level games programmes.

The Burnley boss is confident that will change once the new training centre is up and running.

“We’ve kind of had to do it in reverse order. When I got here we were cutting everything, we didn’t have the resources to put in,” Dyche said of the youth system.

“Then it comes in reverse order, to get success with the first team and then work backwards through the club. Rather than building from youth upwards we had to work backwards. It’s taken time.

“You’ve got to have good facilities now, any good youth system needs the facilities now to back it up for depth. It enhances the chances of a kid of six coming all the way through the system.”